Amazonian devastated by soybean 1. By Emilio Rappold.
Ecologists and experts as well as the government are alarmed by the recent figures about the deforestation rate in the most important rainforest in the world, due to the agricultural and livestock boom encouraged by the high international prices.

Brazil is shocked by the bad news published in bold letters on the front pages of newspapers such as “O Globo”: the Amazonian forest has been devastated in the last months at a speed never recorded before.

Experts and politicians know who is responsible: greed for soybean and meat jeopardise the existence of the world’s “green lung.”

“The interrelations are very clear. When the meat and soybean prices decreased, the felling also did. However when the prices skyrocketed, the forest’s destruction raised too,” stated the economy expert and TV commentator Miriam Leitao. “We can't sacrifice our resources, that have been growing for thousands of years, just for profits of a few years or even months," agreed Marina Silva, the Minister of Environment.

2. (falta) 3. Brazil reached the second place among the main world’s bovine meat/beef production suppliers and the stability of the country largely depends on exports. The soybean lords earn great amounts of money and need more and more lands. This is the case of the governor and Blairo Maggi, better known as the soybean king, in the Matto Grosso state. It’s not surprising that the 54% of the area deforested between the last August and December – approx. 3,235 square kilometers; according to official estimates this number can reach 7,000 square kilometers – belongs to Matto Grosso. The forest engineer Eleazar Volpato, from the University of Brasilia stated “The fight against rainforest destruction cannot be achieved without landowner’s cooperation. It’s necessary to convince them of their